Central Asturias

Within the central swathe of Asturias you will find its two major cities: Oviedo, the elegant capital, with its immaculately clean streets, attractive honey coloured buildings in the ‘casco viejo’, peacocks roaming the Parque San Francisco and well-to-do citizens in suits and fur coats. Gijón, on the coast, is roughly the same size as Oviedo but if Oviedo is a city of fur coats, I always think of Gijón as being more ‘leather jacket’. It has a younger, more urban feel to it and a buzzing nightlife. Its ‘casco viejo’ is equally beautiful and has the added attraction of occupying a peninsula so you can walk to it along the seafront or nip out the back to view the yachts in the ‘puerto deportivo’.

Outside of the cities this area also has some beautiful countryside to offer. The Valles de Trubia, Teverga and Quiros, stand out for their natural beauty and range of outdoor activities that can be practised there: from fishing to rock climbing to exciting mountain biking trails and world class road biking and even family-friendly flat cycling paths (check out the Senda del Oso here). All this within a half hour’s drive of Oviedo.

Watch the video for some cool drone footage of the Quiros area as well as some impressive rock climbing footage

Check out what the Asturian tourist board have to say about the area and the variety of activities on offer here

The concejo of Grado is less mountainous and its more open, rolling countryside lends itself to more agriculture. It’s a breadbasket of Asturias.

Heading further south into the concejos of Morcin and Aller we hit the more mountainous landscape again, with more hiking, rock climbing and even (in winter, naturally) skiing opportunities.